


Scar

by MistressDarkness



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Sisters, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26038147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressDarkness/pseuds/MistressDarkness
Summary: Trigger Warning: Past child abuse“How did you get that scar?” Waverly asked.“It’s nothing,” Wynonna quickly dismissed her, pulling on her shirt to cover it.Wynonna never wanted to retell that story, let alone to her baby sister.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp
Comments: 1
Kudos: 47





	Scar

**Author's Note:**

> Had this idea for a while from snippets the Earp sisters have said about their family, their dad in particular. 
> 
> _"Like Daddy used to say, this hurts you more than it hurts me."_ -Wynonna 3x11

“We should really start keeping a change of clothes in the car,” Waverly told Wynonna as they walked in the front door of the homestead. 

“Duly noted,” Wynonna responded, her face in a grimace at the opaque slime still oozing down her shirt. For once, she was glad she didn’t bring her favorite jacket. Demon guts would have been hell to get out of the fringes. 

She peeled her shirt off, lifting it over her head, cringing when the slime touched her face. “Oh mother of god,” she gagged. 

“Come on, it’s not that bad! At least this one doesn’t smell,” Waverly offered, following her sister to her room. 

Wynnona gave her a deadpan look. “Okay, fine, next time you can get covered in hellspawn snot when it decides to explode.” She dropped the offending article of clothing on the floor, kicking it to the side. “Peacemaker doesn’t normally make creatures go boom.” A smirk stretched across her face, “I mean normally when I bang something and then get covered in-”

“ _Wynonna!_ ” Waverly scolded.

“What?!” Wynonna yelled back, throwing her hands out to either side.

Waverly sighed, perching herself on the rickety table. “I guess different demons respond differently to Peacemaker? I mean with revenants, we know they all get dragged back down into Hell, but demons haven’t been following that pattern.”

“Normally they leave a body behind, not turn into a ticking time bomb.” Wynnona rifled through a pile of haphazardly folded clothes, her back to her sister. 

“I could check-” Waverly paused, cutting herself off mid-sentence when she noticed a mark on Wynonna’s backside. Her eyebrows furrowed. She hopped down off of the table.

“Check what?” Wynonna questioned, still turned away from the younger Earp. “Ah-ha!” she exclaimed, happily pulling out her Guns N Roses shirt. She jumped, feeling a fleeting touch along her lower back. She spun around fast. “What are you doing?!” 

“How did you get that scar?” Waverly asked. 

“It’s nothing,” Wynonna quickly dismissed her, pulling on her shirt to cover it. At the look her sister gave her, she sighed, “I’m a klutz okay? I got drunk one night, tripped over my own damn feet and fell, scraping my back along the corner of a desk at the cop shop. Happy now?”

“No,” Waverly said softly. “I’ve seen it before; you’ve had it since before you even met Dolls.”

“I never said I was at the police station under my own free will. I used to have runs in with the law all the time, remember? Got pulled in on a drunk and disorderly,” she shrugged.

Waverly frowned, knowing her sister was lying. Sure, the story was a plausible one, but it just didn’t sit right with her. There was more to it than that. She inched the black fabric up, moving it out of the way so she could examine the scar.

Wynonna’s hand snatched her sister’s wrist with lightning speed, halting her movements. “Just leave it, okay?”

“Why won’t you tell me the truth?” Waverly questioned, bringing her hand back to her side once her sister withdrew her own. 

“I did, whether you want to believe it or not is your own prerogative.” She turned to leave the room, but the younger woman blocked her path. “Wave,” Wynonna warned.

“I’m not going to drop it,” she responded, just as stubbornly. It was a trait that ran deep in the Earp family. “Just talk to me.” Whatever caused that scar was obviously bothering Wynonna, enough for her to avoid the subject altogether.

“You don’t want to go down this road,” Wynonna cautioned with tears in her eyes. 

“We’ll handle it, together, like always,” Waverly promised. “I’m a big girl, you don’t need to protect me anymore.”

A sad smile wound its way onto Wynonna’s expression. “I’ll always protect you baby girl.” She breathed deeply, a shuddering sigh escaping past her lips. Waverly gently slid her hand into her sister’s. “I guess we’re doing this,” she conceded. Wynonna sat down on the edge of her bed, Waverly following suit. “It was about a year before the attack on the homestead, so I was eleven? I think? Making you about five. You were adorable with the little pigtails Mama gave you that day,” Wynonna chuckled fondly, ruffling Waverly’s hair.

Waverly smiled back at her.

“You were sitting in the living room playing with some toys on the floor, making sound effects for everything happening in your imagination. Mama was at the doctor’s with Willa after she caught pneumonia, and Daddy was nowhere to be found without an heir to train. I sat at the kitchen table making us some sandwiches for dinner while watching you play.” She paused, her expression going from content at the mental image of a young happy Waverly, to something that was entirely unreadable. “Then Daddy came home.”

_The front door slammed so hard that the windows rattled, startling Wynonna and Waverly. Both girls glanced up from their respective positions as Ward strode into the room, an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s dangling from his hand. Wynonna tensed immediately, silently sliding from her chair to place her two feet on the floor. She slowly inched her way closer to her sister._

_He stumbled up to Waverly, “what the fuck is this mess?!”_

_Waverly’s eyes widened at the language he was using, and the menacing tone behind it. “Sorry Daddy, I’ll clean it up.”_

_“I gave her the toys to play with, sorry Daddy,” Wynonna said, garnering his attention._

_He scoffed, knowing his daughter was lying. “You’re too soft on this one.” He gestured to the younger girl still seated on the floor._

Memories rushed through Wynonna’s mind. “He was beyond plastered, the stench of alcohol came off of him in waves, to the point where I began wondering if there was such a thing as becoming second-hand drunk off of the fumes alone.” Her face scrunched up, shaking her head slightly. “And he was angry, so damn angry.” 

Waverly squeezed Wynonna’s hand in a show of support.

_“I didn’t mean to,” Waverly’s bottom lip quaked._

_“So weak,” Ward’s lip ticked up in disgust. “Waste of space,” he mumbled under his breath. He took another long drag from his bottle, wiping the dribble from his mouth on his sleeve. Without any warning, he whipped out Peacemaker and aimed it directly between Waverly’s eyes. “Good for nothing, freeloading...I should end it right here!”_

_Wynonna jumped in between her dad and terrified sister, arms stretched outwards. “Daddy, **stop**!”_

_Ward growled, “move out of the way Wynonna, this has nothing to do with you.”_

_Wynonna’s expression hardened. She was shaking from fear, but she wouldn’t back down, not when it came to protecting her sister, even if it was against her own father. “You’re drunk, you’re not thinking clearly,” she tried to reason, not realizing there was no reasoning with a drunk Earp._

_“You dare talk back to me?!” he snarled. “Everything I do for this family, this god damned town, and not a fucking one of you appreciates it!” he emphasized, waving Peacemaker around. He focused back on Wynonna, seeing the defiance in her. “I think it’s time I teach you a lesson.” He flipped Peacemaker around, grasping it by the shaft before bringing it down into Wynonna’s shoulder. She cried out, slamming into the floor._

_Waverly screamed, tears leaking from her eyes. “Wynonna!” She hovered over her sister, not knowing what to do._

_At hearing the alarm in her baby sister’s voice, Wynonna gritted her teeth, pushing the pain aside. “I’m okay Waves,” she smiled._

_“That should teach you to mind your own damn business,” Ward said smugly. As the heir’s sister, Wynonna would need to learn how to be a good soldier and follow Willa’s orders, lest they both get killed. That rebellious streak in her needed to be snuffed out. And Waverly only seemed to bring that side out in her even more. He should have sent that bastard baby away when he had the chance. She was a plague on his family, a disgrace to the Earp name._

_“As for you,” he stared directly at Waverly, as he removed his belt from his jeans._

_Wynonna’s breath hitched, pushing herself up onto her knees, covering Waverly with her whole body as the metal end of the belt sliced into her backside. She tensed, hugging Waverly tighter to her chest. She could feel Waverly’s tears soaking into her shirt._

_“Stupid girl! Like I said, you’re too soft on her. And one of these days, it’s going to get you killed.” He drew back once more._

_Wynonna looked down into Waverly’s face, brushing hair from her sister’s face. “Waverly, close your eyes, cover your ears, and sing a song, okay?” She stiffened as another blow hit her._

_“But Wy!” Waverly cried, tears streaking down her face at seeing her sister in pain, unable to do anything to stop it._

_“Sing for me, pick your favorite song, okay baby girl? Please?” Wynonna begged urgently, trying to keep the pain out of her voice. Waverly nodded, not knowing what else to do. Wynonna enveloped Waverly’s head to her chest once more. Wynonna’s body shook from the agony, her muscles rigid as she shielded Waverly from their father._

_If humming would help Wynonna, would help her escape this moment, would give her something pretty to listen to, then Waverly would do it. She tried her best to keep the melody going, but she faltered many times, her voice trembling from the fear and helplessness she felt._

_The thick leather and heavy belt buckle rained down in repeated blows all the while Wynonna focused on Waverly’s song, the gentle tone of her voice grounding her, giving her mind a place to seek shelter in the storm. And if Waverly was still singing, at least it meant she was safe._

Waverly had a hand over her mouth, silent tears streaming down as she watched her sister’s face try not to crumple. “Oh God…”

Wynonna tipped her head back, looking up at the ceiling to try to get her emotions back under control, before looking back at Waverly. “It’s fine,” she brushed it off.

“No,” Waverly said adamantly. “That is anything but fine. You were just a little girl. Wynonna-”

Wynonna stood up abruptly, swiping roughly at her cheeks to get rid of the tears she didn’t realize had leaked out. “Nope, nope. Not doing this. I can’t,” her breathing hitched in a panic. She never should have told Waverly. One moment of weakness and she let it all out. There was no taking it back now. She didn’t want to look up and see that pity she was sure was in her sister’s eyes. The same pity people gave her when she shot her father, murdering him. The whispers of those who wondered if she had done it on purpose after hearing rumors of Ward’s drunken temper.

Waverly jumped up quickly, reaching out for her sister. “Hey, it’s okay, take a deep breath.”

Wynonna hadn’t even realized her breaths were coming out short and raspy, her heart pounding hard against her ribs. Why the fuck did she open her mouth?! Before another thought could bombard her, the feel of warm familiar arms wrapped themselves around her, expelling all other thoughts except the feeling of being loved. Wynonna relaxed into the hug, bringing her arms up to return it. Her hands balled up the back of Waverly’s shirt into white-knuckled fists, holding on tightly. When the two women pulled back, Wynonna was surprised to see not pity in her sister’s eyes, but love, admiration, and appreciation. 

“You saved me, even when we were kids. You are amazing, you know that?” Waverly said, tucking a strand of hair behind Wynonna’s ear.

“So I’ve been told,” Wynonna joked, her humor letting Waverly know she was okay. 

“I knew Daddy hated me, but I didn’t realize...I didn’t think he would...to you…” words seemed to fail the youngest Earp. 

“He normally didn’t,” Wynonna helped her out. 

“Normally,” Waverly mused, a realization dawning on her. “Only when it came to me…” she whispered.

Wynonna closed her eyes briefly, not meaning to let Waverly figure that part out, but she also should have known her insanely smart sister would come to that conclusion. “I wasn’t going to let him lay one finger on you if I could help it.”

“It’s my fault you got hurt,” Waverly said softly, feeling guilty.

“Nah-uh, you don’t get to feel guilty for what he did to you, to us!” Wynonna grasped Waverly by the shoulders. “It was my choice to jump in, and I will choose you _every_ damn time. You hear me? _Every_ time!” Waverly nodded. “Good, now come here.” Wynonna dragged Waverly into another hug, one they both desperately needed. “I told you before, I will always protect you baby girl.” She wiped away her sister’s tears with her thumbs. 

Waverly glanced around the room, the emotional toll exhausting her body. “Can I sleep here tonight?” 

Wynonna smiled, “of course, you never need to ask.” Wynonna scooted up on the bed to lean against the headboard, Waverly crawling up into her lap, leaning her head against Wynonna’s chest. Wynonna absentmindedly played with her sister’s hair, getting lost in the demons of her past, but knowing she always had Waverly to keep her grounded. 

Wynonna drifted off, Waverly’s melodic singing lulling her into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
